Actor-turned-author Twinkle Khanna is a proud woman, for she is making her production debut with the biopic on Arunachalam Muruganantham, the inventor of a low-cost sanitary pad making machine in India.

The film, titled Padman, is actually the adaptation of Twinkle’s own novel on Muruganantham, who has innovated grass-root mechanisms for generating awareness about traditional unhygienic practices around menstruation in rural India.

Passionate about the subject, Twinkle says that she is certain that Padman will bring attention on something that has long been shamed.

“I have just come back (from the shoot in Indore). It has been going really well. Mr Muruganathan was also there. I think it is a wonderful project. It will bring awareness about something which has so far been cloaked and shamed and I am very happy to be a part of it,” the debutant producer told reporters here.

Padman stars her husband Akshay Kumar as Murugunathan, while Radhika Apte plays his wife. Actor Sonam Kapoor will also be seen in a special role in the movie, which is being directed by R Balki.

At the event, Twinkle was asked a range of questions from her recent column, where she wrote about sexual harassment in the wake of TVF controversy, and statements made by Shahid Kapoor’s wife Mira Rajput on feminism and working mothers. She refused to comment on anything. When, however, asked if sexual harassment at work is a neglected issue, Twinkle, without making a direct comment, said, “Well your statistics say 38 percent women (who have faced sexually harassed at work). So, your statistics are right there.”

A recent survey by Indian National Bar Association (INBA), which was carried out at BPOs, IT sector offices and at various educational institutes, hospitals and legal firms, found that 38 percent women/girls had faced sexual harassment at workplace. Of these, 68.9 percent said they refrained from making a complaint due to fear, embarrassment and lack of confidence.